Preview 2014 - Men’s World Championship: All roads lead to the highlight of the year

Barbados celebrate advancing in the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship qualification process in NORCECA in 2013

Lausanne, Switzerland, January 1, 2014 – In Lodz, a large clock is counting down the time to the start of
the 18th FIVB Volleyball World Championship for men. It is now just eight
months until the highlight of the season from August 30 to September 21 and, even
as we enter the new year, the volleyball world is already focusing on the
prestigious event, which will take place in Poland for the first time.

The
all-important European qualifying tournaments will be held from January 3 to 5 in the Czech Republic, Serbia, Germany, France and Slovakia. Each
tournament will be played in a group of four teams, with the five winners and
the best second-placed team qualifying for the championship.

On the African continent,
the year kicks off with three tournaments in Cameroon, Tunisia and Egypt, each
featuring five teams, from which a further three finalists will be determined. Countries
in the NORCECA confederation must wait the longest to discover their fate, with
four qualifying tournaments (each with four teams) scheduled for May and June
in the USA, Cuba, Canada and Puerto Rico, as well as a continental play-off
from July 9 to 14. By the end of this, a further five teams will have
booked their place at the World Championships. Those who qualify will earn
tickets to the Polish cities of Gdansk, Wroclaw, Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Lodz and
Krakow. Ten of the 24 finalists have already been confirmed: hosts Poland,
Olympic champions Russia and Italy from Europe, Australia, Iran, China and
Korea from Asia, and Argentina, Venezuela and Brazil from South America.

A glance at the history of
the World Championship reveals why the hosts of the 2016 Olympic Games are also
the hot favourites to claim the title this year. After all, the last time the
World Championship trophy went to a different country was back in 1998, when
Italy were victorious. The Brazilians won a hat-trick of back-to-back titles in
2002, 2006 and 2010, and could make history with a fourth win in a row. “I hope
we will continue to win in the coming years,” said Brazil’s star coach Bernardo
Rezende after the recent triumph in the Grand Champions Cup. However, the South
Americans will face a stern test. The Russians, in particular, are hungry for
the title – they have after all won every other major title over the past two
years, with victory in the Olympics, the European Championship and the World
League.

Even Russia’s President
Vladimir Putin was keen to emphasise the importance of success in his speech to
mark the 90th anniversary of volleyball in Russia: “Those who were involved in
a tense and uncompromising struggle to win gold at the Olympic Games, World
Championships and European Championships, strengthened the international
prestige of the country. They turned volleyball into a popular and truly
national sport. Their names and achievements, our common pride, our national
heritage. It is gratifying that Russian volleyball players strive to be worthy of
this winning record today, taking their cue from their predecessors.”

With six titles to its
name, Russia’s predecessor the Soviet Union is the most successful nation since
the first World Championship title was played out in 1949. However, it is now
32 years since the last gold medal (1982 in Buenos Aires). Brazil and Italy
have both climbed onto the top step of the podium on three occasions, while
Czechoslovakia triumphed on two occasions. The USA, East Germany and Poland
each have one title to their name. Every one of the millions of volleyball fans
in the host nation of Poland is obviously dreaming of a repeat of the triumph
in Mexico City, 1974. The Polish national team is taking a completely different
approach in order to achieve the seemingly impossible.

The year prior to the World
Championship proved to be more than disappointing, with Poland crashing out in
the preliminary round as it failed to defend its World League title and also
missing out on the medals at the European Championship on home soil. As a
consequence, coach Andrea Anastasi was forced to step aside from his role. To
the surprise of the volleyball world, legendary French player Stephane Antiga was
announced as his successor. Antiga will continue to play for Poland’s multiple
champions PGE Skra Belchatow up to the end of the current season and so will
cross paths with many players he will mentor later in the national team. “It
will be an unusual situation, but I think this will add some extra motivation
to the players,” Antiga said. “As for my current colleagues at PGE Skra, this appointment
was a huge surprise.” Maybe this was one reason why Antiga was presented with a
shirt with the text “Antiga coach” on it when he was introduced.

Poland Volleyball
Federation President Miroslaw Przedpelski is utterly convinced by his “Antiga
plan”. “His appointment as head coach of our national team is a very good idea
that is going to be beneficial for the players, the clubs, and everyone who is
working for the good of volleyball. With this change we will make sure that we
can achieve the best possible result at the FIVB Volleyball World Championship
here in Poland.”

Antiga has a plan in place
to achieve this goal: “I will try to put together a very solid group, including
all players who will be available for the national team. The most important
things I will insist on are mutual respect, trust, communication, and – above
all – hard work.” This – and a rejuvenation in recent years – is also a secret
of the success enjoyed by the ever-improving Italians, who finished third in
the World League. The team, which features top scorer Ivan Zaytsev, is one of
the dark horses. The same can be said of Iran and their star coach Julio
Velasco, who himself won the World Championship with Italy in 1990 and 1994. One
familiar face missing from this year’s tournament is Japan, who missed out on
qualification.

The rapid growth in the
number of countries involved in the qualifying process is emphatic proof of
just how tough the competition is around the world. While 113 teams strived for
a ticket to the 2010 World Championship, this number had risen to 154 this time
around, with national teams ranging from Guadeloupe and the Ivory Coast to
Yemen. A total of 100 matches in a new competition format await the 24 finalists
in Poland. The 24 teams will be spread across four pools of six teams playing
in a round-robin system with the top four teams advancing to a second round of
preliminary matches featuring two pools of eight teams. The top four from each
pool will then advance to the quarterfinal phase, followed by semifinals and
finals.

Quarterfinals, semifinals and finals last featured at a FIVB World
Championship in 2002. This heralded the start of Brazil’s winning streak – is
the countdown now on to the end of this run?